Rubik’s Cube robot breaks world record

Sydney: A new robot has been invented by a group of Australian students, capable of solving Rubik’s Cube in a world record time of just over 10 seconds.

According to Melbourne`s Swinburne University of Technology, the robot, named Ruby, has successfully solved a scrambled puzzle in 10.69 seconds, including the time taken to scan the initial status of the cube.

Six students at Swinburne built Ruby from scratch for their final year project. The team comprised identical twin ‘computer whiz kids’ David and Richard Bain, Daniel Purvis, Jarrod Boyes, Miriam Parkinson and Jonathan Goldwasser.According to 24-year-old project manager Parkinson, the students chose to solve Rubik``s Cube using a robot because it was ‘iconic’ for many who grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s.

According to Prof Chris Pilgrim, deputy dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies at Swinburne, the robot solves the puzzle by scanning each face of a scrambled cube through a web camera, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The robot uses Kociemba`s algorithm to solve scrambled puzzles.

In tests conducted with the robot, the team was able to get the timing down to 8.6 seconds.

“If we actually input the solution then it solves it in 5.9,” Parkinson added.